Cutting 4 inches off a Springfield rifle.

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I was doing some research a a cadet program in the early 1870s and it stated that one cadet company used Springfield rifles with about 4 inches cut off the barrel while the remaining cadet companies fired carbines. I am no weapons expert and was wondering if cutting down Springfield rifles effected the accuracy of the rifle. I guess if all cadets fired shortened rifles at the target shoot, then all cadets were on an equal footing.
 
I was doing some research a a cadet program in the early 1870s and it stated that one cadet company used Springfield rifles with about 4 inches cut off the barrel while the remaining cadet companies fired carbines. I am no weapons expert and was wondering if cutting down Springfield rifles effected the accuracy of the rifle. I guess if all cadets fired shortened rifles at the target shoot, then all cadets were on an equal footing.
Only if they didn't put the front sight back on the barrel :D
 
I am no weapons expert and was wondering if cutting down Springfield rifles effected the accuracy of the rifle. I guess if all cadets fired shortened rifles at the target shoot, then all cadets were on an equal footing.

Yes, but with caveats. There is a phenomena called "harmonics". Easy and short answer, for two barrels made exactly equal in all respects EXCEPT wall thickness, the barrel with the thicker walls will shoot better. It's partly due to barrel harmonics upon firing. All gun barrels flex on firing. A barrel with thicker walls will generally flex less, leading to better accuracy than a thinner wall barrel of the same length and caliber. Also, a barrel with thin walls heats up faster leading to a bit of warping that will affect accuracy, hence the reason for "bull" barrels on target type guns. Thicker wall barrels heat up more slowly (greater mass) and by virtue of the thickness of the walls will also resist warping more readily. One more benefit from a thicker barrel, by it's higher mass, it will resist movement from the shooter more readily than a light one.

That's about as simple as you can make it without delving into materials science, thermodynamics and alloys.
 
I was doing some research a a cadet program in the early 1870s and it stated that one cadet company used Springfield rifles with about 4 inches cut off the barrel while the remaining cadet companies fired carbines. I am no weapons expert and was wondering if cutting down Springfield rifles effected the accuracy of the rifle. I guess if all cadets fired shortened rifles at the target shoot, then all cadets were on an equal footing.

Interesting. Which particular cadet company carried these? The plethora of military schools during the ACW always fascinates me, as most disbanded shortly afterward and only a few remain today. Of course, schools like West Point, VMI and the Citadel are well known, but the smaller secondary school academies that played grown up home guard and turned their boys into hometown sentries while the men were away fighting always makes a great story.

Apparently there were 171 military institutes/academies/schools operating during the war, with a total of 844 in operation at one time or another between 1802 and present. I can't vouch for the article, but interesting facts: https://militaryschooler.com/history-of-military-schools/
 
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Pelouze Cadet program of the Detroit Public school of the 1870s. Here is a sergeant of the Pelouze Cadets. He may be in the senior company and younger boys would have been in the other companies. Each summer during their encampment they had marksmanship competitions.


p cadet.jpg
 
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